God’s Word Translation
Psalms 8:4
4what is a mortal that you remember him or the Son of Man that you take care of him?
Psalms 8:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- New International Version (NIV)what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
- English Standard Version (ESV)what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
- New King James Version (NKJV)What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
Context of Psalms 8:4
2From the mouths of little children and infants, you have built a fortress against your opponents to silence the enemy and the avenger. 3When I look at your heavens, the creation of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place— what is a mortal that you remember him or the Son of Man that you take care of him? 5You have made him a little lower than yourself. You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6You have made him rule what your hands created. You have put everything under his control:
Read all of Psalms 8Psalms 8:4 word by word
מָֽה־אֱנ֥וֹשׁ כִּֽי־תִזְכְּרֶ֑נּוּ וּבֶן־אָ֝דָ֗ם כִּ֣י תִפְקְדֶֽנּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 8:4
- Psalms 144:3O Lord, what are humans that you should care about them? What are mere mortals that you should think about them?
- 2 Chronicles 6:18“Does God really live on earth with people? If heaven itself, the highest heaven, cannot hold you, then how can this temple that I have built?
- Job 7:17“What is a mortal that you should make so much of him, that you should be concerned about him?
- Job 25:6How much less pure is a mortal—who is only a maggot— a descendant of Adam—who is only a worm!”
- Isaiah 40:17All the nations amount to nothing in his presence. He considers them less than nothing and worthless.
- Hebrews 2:6Instead, someone has declared this somewhere in Scripture: “What is a mortal that you should remember him, or the Son of Man that you take care of him?
- Psalms 4:2You important people, how long are you going to insult my honor? How long are you going to love what is empty and seek what is a lie? Selah
- Psalms 80:17Let your power rest on the man you have chosen, the son of man you strengthened for yourself.
- Psalms 146:3Do not trust influential people, mortals who cannot help you.
- Isaiah 51:12I alone am the one who comforts you. Why, then, are you afraid of mortals, who must die, of humans, who are like grass?
- Ezekiel 8:15He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this? You will see even more disgusting things than these.”
- Matthew 8:20Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”
- Psalms 106:4Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people. Come to help me with your salvation
- Genesis 21:1The Lord came to help Sarah and did for her what he had promised.
- Exodus 4:31and the people believed them. When they heard that the Lord was concerned about the people of Israel and that he had seen their misery, they knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
- Luke 1:68“Praise the Lord God of Israel! He has come to take care of his people and to set them free.
Commentaries on Psalms 8:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4What is man - אנוש מה mah enosh, what is wretched, miserable man; man in his fallen state, full of infirmity, ignorance, and sin? That thou art mindful of him? - That thou settest thy heart upon him, keepest him continually in thy merciful view. And the son of man - אדם ובן uben Adam, and the son of Adam, the first great rebel; the fallen child of a fallen parent. See the note on Job 7:17. Some think eminent men are here intended. What is man in common…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4What is man - What claim has one so weak, and frail, and short-lived, to be remembered by time? What is there in man that entitles him to so much notice? Why has God conferred on him so signal honor? Why has he placed him over the works of his hands? Why has he made so many arrangements for his comfort? Why has he done so much to save him? He is so insignificant his life is so much like a vapor, he so soon disappears, he is so sinful and polluted, that…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 3-9Verses 3-9 We are to consider the heavens, that man thus may be directed to set his affections on things above. What is man, so mean a creature, that he should be thus honoured! so sinful a creature, that he should be thus favoured! Man has sovereign dominion over the inferior creatures, under God, and is appointed their lord. This refers to Christ. In He 2:6-8, the apostle, to prove the sovereign dominion of Christ, shows he is that Man, that Son of man…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4son of man (literally son of Adam): This means "a human being." Through the influence of Daniel 7:13–14, son of man became a title with divine meaning in the New Testament. See Hebrews 2:6–8, where this passage is quoted.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-43-4. The allusion to the magnificence of the visible heavens is introduced for the purpose of illustrating God's condescension, who, though the mighty Creator of these glorious worlds of light, makes man the object of regard and recipient of favor.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 8:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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